Reconstructing an ancient lethal weapon

IMAGE: University of Washington researchers re-created ancient projectile points to test their effectiveness. From left to right: stone, microblade and bone tips. view more 

Credit: Janice Wood

Archaeologists are a little like forensic investigators: They scour the remains of past societies, looking for clues in pottery, tools and bones about how people lived, and how they died.

And just as detectives might re-create the scene of a crime, University of Washington archaeologists have re-created the weapons used by hunter-gatherers in the post-Ice Age Arctic some 14,000 years ago. Looking for clues as to how those early people advanced their own technology, researchers also considered what that might tell us about human migration, ancient climates and the fate of some animal species.

In an article published Jan. 31 in the Journal of Archaeological Science, Janice Wood, recent UW anthropology graduate, and Ben Fitzhugh, a UW professor of anthropology, show how they reconstructed prehistoric projectiles and points from ancient sites in what is now Alaska and studied the qualities that would make for a lethal hunting weapon.

The UW team chose to study hunting weapons from the time of the earliest archaeological record in Alaska (around 10,000 to 14,000 years ago), a time that is less understood archaeologically, and when different kinds of projectile points were in use. Team members designed a pair of experiments to test the effectiveness of the different point types. By examining and testing different points in this way, the team has come to a new understanding about the technological choices people made in ancient times.

"The hunter-gatherers of 12,000 years ago were more sophisticated than we give them credit for," Fitzhugh said. "We haven't thought of hunter-gatherers in the Pleistocene as having that kind of sophistication, but they clearly did for the things that they had to manage in their daily lives, such as hunting game. They had a very comprehensive understanding of different tools, and the best tools for different prey and shot conditions."

Prior research has focused on the flight ballistics of the hunting weapons in general, and no prior study has looked specifically at the ballistics of tools used in Siberia and the Arctic regions of North America just after the Ice Age. In addition to foraging for plants and berries (when available), nomadic groups hunted caribou, reindeer and other animals for food, typically with spears or darts (thrown from atlatl boards). Without preservation of the wood shafts, these tools are mainly differentiated in the archaeological record by their stone and bone points. But it was not known how effective different kinds of points were in causing lethal injury to prey.

Nor is it known, definitively, whether different types of points were associated with only certain groups of people, or whether with the same groups used certain point types to specialize on particular kinds of game or hunting practices. It is generally accepted that different point types were developed in Africa and Eurasia and brought to Alaska before the end of the Ice Age. These included rudimentary points made of sharpened bone, antler or ivory; more intricate, flaked stone tips popularly familiar as "arrowheads"; and a composite point made of bone or antler with razor blade-like stone microblades embedded around the edges.

The three likely were invented at separate times but remained in use during the same period because each presumably had its own advantages, Wood said. Learning how they functioned informs what we know about prehistoric hunters and the repercussions of their practices.

So Wood traveled to the area around Fairbanks, Alaska, and crafted 30 projectile points, 10 of each kind. She tried to stay as true to the original materials and manufacturing processes as possible, using poplar projectiles, and birch tar as an adhesive to affix the points to the tips of the projectiles. While ancient Alaskans used atlatls (a kind of throwing board), Wood used a maple recurve bow to shoot the arrows for greater control and precision.

• For the bone tip, modeled on a 12,000-year-old ivory point from an Alaskan archaeological site, Wood used a multipurpose tool to grind a commercially purchased cow bone;
• For the stone tip, she used a hammerstone to strike obsidian into flakes, then shaped them into points modeled on those found at another site in Alaska from 13,000 years ago;
• And for the composite microblade tip -- modeled microblade technologies seen in Alaska since at least 13,000 years ago and a rare, preserved grooved antler point from a more recent Alaskan site used more than 8,000 years ago -- Wood used a saw and sandpaper to grind a caribou antler to a point. She then used the multipurpose tool to gouge out a groove around its perimeter, into which she inserted obsidian microblades.

Wood then tested how well each point could penetrate and damage two different targets: blocks of ballistic gelatin (a clear synthetic gelatin meant to mimic animal muscle tissue) and a fresh reindeer carcass, purchased from a local farm. Wood conducted her trials over seven hours on a December day, with an average outdoor temperature of minus 17 degrees Fahrenheit.

In Wood's field trial, the composite microblade points were more effective than simple stone or bone on smaller prey, showing the greatest versatility and ability to cause incapacitating damage no matter where they struck the animal's body. But the stone and bone points had their own strengths: Bone points penetrated deeply but created narrower wounds, suggesting their potential for puncturing and stunning larger prey (such as bison or mammoth); the stone points could have cut wider wounds, especially on large prey (moose or bison), resulting in a quicker kill.

Wood said the findings show that hunters during this period were sophisticated enough to recognize the best point to use, and when. Hunters worked in groups; they needed to complete successful hunts, in the least amount of time, and avoid risk to themselves.

"We have shown how each point has its own performance strengths," she said. Bone points punctured effectively, flaked stone created a greater incision, and the microblade was best for lacerated wounds. "It has to do with the animal itself; animals react differently to different wounds. And it would have been important to these nomadic hunters to bring the animal down efficiently. They were hunting for food."

Weapon use can shed light on the movement of people and animals as humans spread across the globe and how ecosystems changed before, during and after the ice ages.

"The findings of our paper have relevance to the understanding of ballistic properties affecting hunting success anywhere in the world people lived during the 99 percent of human history that falls between the invention of stone tools more than 3 million years ago in Africa and the origins of agriculture," Fitzhugh said.

It could also inform debates on whether human hunting practices directly led to the extinction of some species. The team's findings and other research show that our ancestors were thinking about effectiveness and efficiency, Wood said, which may have influenced which animals they targeted. An animal that was easier to kill may have been targeted more often, which could, along with changing climates, explain why animals such as the horse disappeared from the Arctic. A shot to the lung was lethal for early equines, Wood said, but a caribou could keep going.

"I see this line of research as looking at the capacity of the human brain to come up with innovations that ultimately changed the course of human history," she said. "This reveals the human capacity to invent in extreme circumstances, to figure out a need and a way to meet that need that made it easier to eat and minimized the risk."

Upon completion of the experiment, the bones were sterilized for future study of projectile impact marks.

Archaeologists may have discovered one of the earliest examples of a 'crayon'

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The crayon revealed a sharpened end.

Credit: Paul Shields/University of York

Archaeologists say they may have discovered one of the earliest examples of a 'crayon' -- possibly used by our ancestors 10,000 years ago for applying colour to their animal skins or for artwork.

The ochre crayon was discovered near an ancient lake, now blanketed in peat, near Scarborough, North Yorkshire. An ochre pebble was found at another site on the opposite side of the lake.

The pebble had a heavily striated surface that is likely to have been scraped to produce a red pigment powder. The crayon measures 22mm long and 7mm wide.

Ochre is an important mineral pigment used by prehistoric hunter-gatherers across the globe. The latest finds suggest people collected ochre and processed it in different ways during the Mesolithic period.

The ochre objects were studied as part of an interdisciplinary collaboration between the Departments of Archaeology and Physics at the University of York, using state-of-the-art techniques to establish their composition.

The artefacts were found at Seamer Carr and Flixton School House. Both sites are situated in a landscape rich in prehistory, including one of the most famous Mesolithic sites in Europe, Star Carr.
A pendant was discovered at Star Carr in 2015 and is the earliest known Mesolithic art in Britain. Here, more than 30 red deer antler headdresses were found which may have been used as a disguise in hunting, or during ritual performances by shamans when communicating with animal spirits.

Lead author, Dr Andy Needham from the University of York's Department of Archaeology, said the latest discoveries helped further our understanding of Mesolithic life.

He commented: "Colour was a very significant part of hunter-gatherer life and ochre gives you a very vibrant red colour. It is very important in the Mesolithic period and seems to be used in a number of ways.

"One of the latest objects we have found looks exactly like a crayon; the tip is faceted and has gone from a rounded end to a really sharpened end, suggesting it has been used.

"For me it is a very significant object and helps us build a bigger picture of what life was like in the area; it suggests it would have been a very colourful place."

The research team say Flixton was a key location in the Mesolithic period and the two objects help paint a vibrant picture of how the people interacted with the local environment.

"The pebble and crayon were located in an area already rich in art. It is possible there could have been an artistic use for these objects, perhaps for colouring animal skins or for use in decorative artwork," Dr Needham added.

Northern European population history revealed by ancient human genomes

An international team of scientists, led by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, analyzed ancient human genomes from 38 northern Europeans dating from approximately 7,500 to 500 BCE. The study, published today in Nature Communications, found that Scandinavia was initially settled via a southern and a northern route and that the arrival of agriculture in northern Europe was facilitated by movements of farmers and pastoralists into the region.
Northern Europe could be considered a late bloomer in some aspects of human history: initial settlement by hunter-gatherers occurred only about 11,000 years ago, after the retreat of the lingering ice sheets from the Pleistocene, and while agriculture was already widespread in Central Europe 7,000 years ago, this development reached Southern Scandinavia and the Eastern Baltic only millennia later.

Several recent studies of ancient human genomes have dealt with the prehistoric population movements that brought new technology and subsistence strategies into Europe, but how they impacted the very north of the continent has still been poorly understood.

For this study, the research team, which included scientists from Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Russia and Sweden, assembled genomic data from 38 ancient northern Europeans, from mobile hunter-gatherers of the Mesolithic (approximately 12,000 to 7,000 years ago) and the first Neolithic farmers in southern Sweden (approximately 6,000 to 5,300 years ago) to the metallurgists of the Late Bronze Age in the Eastern Baltic (approximately 1300 to 500 BCE). This allowed the researchers to uncover surprising aspects of the population dynamics of prehistoric northern Europe.

Two routes of settlement for Scandinavia
Previous analysis of ancient human genomes has revealed that two genetically differentiated groups of hunter-gatherers lived in Europe during the Mesolithic: the so-called Western Hunter-Gatherers excavated in locations from Iberia to Hungary, and the so-called Eastern Hunter-Gatherers excavated in Karelia in north-western Russia. Surprisingly, the results of the current study show that Mesolithic hunter-gatherers from Lithuania appear very similar to their Western neighbors, despite their geographic proximity to Russia. The ancestry of contemporary Scandinavian hunter-gatherers, on the other hand, was comprised from both Western and Eastern Hunter-Gatherers.

"Eastern Hunter-Gatherers were not present on the eastern Baltic coast, but a genetic component from them is present in Scandinavia. This suggests that the people carrying this genetic component took a northern route through Fennoscandia into the southern part of the Scandinavian peninsula. There they genetically mixed with Western Hunter-Gatherers who came from the South, and together they formed the Scandinavian Hunter-Gatherers," explains Johannes Krause, Director of the Department of Archaeogenetics at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, and senior author of the study.

Agriculture and animal herding - cultural imports by incoming people
Large-scale farming first started in southern Scandinavia around 6,000 years ago, about one millennium after it was already common in Central Europe. In the Eastern Baltic, the inhabitants relied solely on hunting, gathering and fishing for another 1000 years. Although some have argued that the use of the new subsistence strategy was a local development by foragers, possibly adopting the practices of their farming neighbors, the genetic evidence uncovered in the present study tells a different story.

The earliest farmers in Sweden are not descended from Mesolithic Scandinavians, but show a genetic profile similar to that of Central European agriculturalists. Thus it appears that Central Europeans migrated to Scandinavia and brought farming technology with them. These early Scandinavian farmers, like the Central European agriculturalists, inherited a substantial portion of their genes from Anatolian farmers, who first spread into Europe around 8,200 years ago and set in motion the cultural transition to agriculture known as the Neolithic Revolution.

Similarly, a near-total genetic turnover is seen in the Eastern Baltic with the advent of large-scale agro-pastoralism. While they did not mix genetically with Central European or Scandinavian farmers, beginning around 2,900 BCE the individuals in the Eastern Baltic derive large parts of their ancestry from nomadic pastoralists of the Pontic-Caspian steppe.

"Interestingly, we find an increase of local Eastern Baltic hunter-gatherer ancestry in this population at the onset of the Bronze Age," states Alissa Mittnik of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, lead author of the study. "The local population was not completely replaced but coexisted and eventually mixed with the newcomers."

This study emphasizes the regional differences of cultural transitions and sets the stage for more in-depth studies of later periods in northern European prehistory, such as the Iron Age and Viking Age.

Ancient Eurasian DNA sequencing is revealing links with modern humans

IMAGE: This is a schematic of populations in Eurasia and the Americas from 45,000 to 7,500 years ago. A summary of major events in each of the time periods is on the left.

Credit: Melinda A.Yang and Qiaomei Fu

Until recently, very little was known about the genetic relationship between modern humans of the Upper Paleolithic age (the period of time between 50,000 and 10,000 years ago, also called the Late Stone age) and today's populations. But with direct DNA sequencing, researchers are discovering unexpected genetic connections between individuals on opposing sides of Eurasia. These suggest a complex history that may represent early gene flow across Eurasia or an early population structure that eventually led to Europeans and Asians.

In a review published in the journal Trends in Genetics on January 25, scientists at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing discuss what we know about the genetics of ancient individuals from Eurasia (Europe and Western Asia) between 45,000-7,500 years ago. The authors summarized work that investigated the genomes of more than 20 ancients in the Eurasian family tree, including the 45,000-year-old Ust'-Ishim individual from Central Siberia, for their paper.

"Aside from these individuals, it is a fact that sampling for the Eurasian region is sparse for all time periods except the present-day," says co-author Qiaomei Fu, a paleogeneticist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. "But with the information from the several individuals available for ancient DNA sequencing we do have hints at interesting population structure, migration and interaction in East Asia."

The researchers learned that in Eurasia between 35,000 and 45,000 years ago, at least four distinct populations were present. These were early Asian and Europeans, as well as populations with ancestry hardly found or not at all in modern populations.

By 15,000-34,000 years ago, however, DNA sequencing showed that modern humans in Eurasia are similar to either Europeans or to Asians, suggesting that a genetic Asian-European separation likely occurred prior to 40,000 years ago. By 7,500-14,000 years ago, the populations across Eurasia shared genetic similarities, suggesting greater interactions between geographically distant populations.

These analyses also revealed at least two Neanderthal population mixing events, one approximately 50,000-60,000 years ago and a second more than 37,000 years ago. This Neanderthal ancestry gradually declined in archaic ancestry in Europeans dating from ~14,000-37,000 years ago.

"Genetic studies of ancient individuals have become more frequent in recent years because of technology," says Fu. "As a result, we can now see the presence of multiple distinct subpopulations in Europe and in Asia, and these in turn contribute different amounts of ancestry to more recent subpopulations."

"Right now is a great time to study human evolutionary genetics because the development of sequencing technology and computing resources minimizes destruction of samples and maximizes data generation and storage," Fu says. "With large present-day genomic datasets and increased international collaboration to handle the many newly sequenced ancient datasets, there is huge potential to understand the biology of human prehistory in a way that has never been accessible before."

Looking ahead, Fu and colleagues hope to extend this type of sequencing and analysis to learn more about the genetic prehistory of East Asia and other regions, including Oceania, Africa, and the Americas. "All of those areas have a rich human prehistory, particularly in Africa, so any ancient DNA from those continents will likely resolve some major questions on human migration," she says.

Historical migrations left genetic footprints on the Irish genome

A genome-wide study of the people of Ireland reveals a previously hidden genetic landscape, shaped through geography and historical migrations. Ross Byrne and Russell McLaughlin of Trinity College Dublin in Ireland report their findings January 25th, 2018 in PLOS Genetics.

In the 10,000 years that people have continuously inhabited the Emerald Isle, they have established distinct cultural and geographic regions. Previous studies, however, had found no clear genetic groups within the Irish population. In the current study, researchers took a more detailed look at genetic diversity across the islands. They analyzed genetic variation across almost 1,000 Irish genomes and over 6,000 genomes from Britain and mainland Europe.

 The study revealed 23 distinct Irish genetic clusters, separated by geography. The clusters are most distinct in western Ireland, but less pronounced in the east, where historical migrations have erased the genetic divisions. When the researchers took into account genetic contributions from people with British ancestry, a clear trend arose, showing input from Britain dropping off in populations to the west. The researchers also detected genetic input from Europe and estimated the timing of the historical migrations of the Norse-Vikings and the Anglo-Normans to Ireland, yielding dates that were consistent with historical records.

The study paints a new and more complex picture of the genetic landscape of Ireland, and demonstrates the signatures that historical migrations have left on the modern Irish genome. The findings also show that a distinct genetic structure can exist, even within small, isolated populations. The researchers suggest that this newly revealed structure should be taken into account in future studies that use the Irish population to identify the genetics underlying various traits and diseases.

On the impact of the study, Ross P. Byrne says:

"This subtle genetic structure within such a small country has implications for medical genetic association studies. As it stands current corrections for population structure in study designs may not adequately account for this within country variation, which may potentially lead to false positive results emerging. We feel this will be particularly important in the analysis of rare variants as these are expected to be less uniformly distributed throughout a country. We intend to explore this further and identify if this structure should be accounted for in corrections. 

Russell McLaughlin adds:

"The long and complex history of population dynamics in Ireland has left an indelible mark on the genomes of modern inhabitants of the island. We have shown that, using only genetic data, we can accurately reconstruct elements of this past and demonstrate a striking correlation between geographical provenance and genetic affinity. Understanding this fine-grained population structure is crucially important for ongoing and future studies of rare genetic variation in health and disease."

Remains of earliest modern human outside of Africa unearthed in Israel Discovery

IMAGE: Reconstruced maxilla from microCT images. view more 

Credit: Gerhard Weber, University of Vienna, Austria

A jawbone complete with teeth recently discovered at Israel's Misliya cave has now been dated to 177,000-194,000 years ago. The finding indicates that modern humans were present in the Levant at least 50,000 years earlier than previously thought.

"This finding -- that early modern humans were present outside of Africa earlier than commonly believed -- completely changes our view on modern human dispersal and the history of modern human evolution," says Prof. Israel Hershkovitz of the Department of Anatomy and Anthropology at Tel Aviv University's Sackler Faculty of Medicine. Prof. Hershkovitz led the international team of anthropologists who conducted the study in collaboration with Prof. Mina Weinstein-Evron of the Zinman Institute of Archaeology at the University of Haifa. The research was recently published in the journal Science.

The common consensus of anthropologists has been that modern humans appeared in Africa roughly 160,000-200,000 years ago, based on fossils found in Ethiopia, and that modern humans evolved in Africa and started migrating out of Africa around 100,000 years ago.

The research team discovered the fossil, an adult upper jawbone with several teeth, at the Misliya cave in Israel, one of several prehistoric cave sites located on Mount Carmel. The scientists applied various dating techniques to the fossil to determine that the jawbone is at least 170,000 years old. They also analyzed the remains using microCT scans and 3D virtual models to compare it with other hominin fossils discovered in parts of Africa, Europe and Asia.

Turning back the clock
"But if the fossil at Misliya dates to roughly 170,000-190,000 years ago, the entire narrative of the evolution of Homo sapiens must be pushed back by at least 100,000-200,000 years," Prof. Hershkovitz says. "In other words, if modern humans started traveling out of Africa some 200,000 years ago, it follows that they must have originated in Africa at least 300,000-500,000 years ago."

Until now, the earliest remains of modern human found outside of Africa, at the Skhul and Qafzeh caves in Israel, were dated to 90,000-120,000 years ago.

"Our research makes sense of many recent anthropological and genetic finds," Prof. Hershkovitz says. "About a year ago, scientists reported finding the remains of modern humans in China dating to about 80,000-100,000 years ago. This suggested that their migration occurred earlier than previously thought, but until our discovery at Misliya, we could not explain it.

"Numerous different pieces of the puzzle -- the occurrence of the earliest modern human in Misliya, evidence of genetic mixture between Neanderthals and humans, modern humans in China -- now fall into place," he observes.

The Middle East was a major corridor for hominin migrations, occupied at different times by both modern humans and Neanderthals. The new discovery at Misliya suggests an earlier demographic replacement or genetic admixture with local populations than previously thought.

"All of the anatomical details in the Misliya fossil are fully consistent with modern humans, but some features resemble those found in the remains of Neanderthals and other human groups. This suggests that, while Africa was the origin of our species, some of our traits must have evolved or been acquired outside of Africa," says Prof. Hershkovitz.

According to Prof. Weinstein-Evron, the inhabitants of Misliya cave were capable hunters of large game species such as aurochs, Persian fallow deer and gazelles, routinely used fire, made a wide use of plants and produced an Early Middle Paleolithic stone tool kit, employing sophisticated innovative techniques, similar to those found with the earliest modern humans in Africa. The association of the Misliya maxilla with such evolved technologies in the Levant suggests that their emergence is linked to the appearance of Homo sapiens in the region.

New light on long-standing debate about Viking-age Ireland conflict

Modern mathematical techniques - similar to those used to analyse social-networking websites - have allowed academics to shed new light on a centuries old debate surrounding the Viking age in Ireland and the famous battle of Clontarf in 1014.

The widespread view among the public is that the battle was the climax of a war between the Irish and Vikings at which, under Brian Boru's leadership, Irish victory finally broke Viking power in Ireland.

However, revisionist historians have long since challenged this view believing, instead, it was a conflict between opposing Irish sides with Munster and its allies victorious over Leinster and Dublin, and Viking warriors on each side.

The debate about the conflict has lasted at least 250 years and medieval texts have been used by both sides to support their cases.

But now researchers at Coventry, Oxford and Sheffield Universities have analysed the most extensive of these medieval texts using a mathematical approach similar to that used to analyse the connections between people on social networking websites, such as Facebook.

Their findings, published today in the journal Royal Society Open Science, support the long-standing popular view that the Battle of Clontarf was the climax of a war mainly between the Irish and Vikings. This is contrary to the revisionist view that it was an Irish civil war.

To perform the study, the academics analysed how all the Irish and Viking characters in the text fit together in a network, monitoring whether the interactions between them were benign or hostile.
They developed a mathematical measure to quantify whether hostility in the network mainly connected Irish to Irish or Irish to Vikings.

They then calculated the difference between the measure of hostilities between each type of character (Irish and Viking) and what would have been hostile interactions in the network, indiscriminate of whether characters were Irish or Viking.

A positive value of the resulting measure would signal Irish civil war and a negative number would reflect an Irish versus Viking conflict. The results gave an overall negative value suggesting that the text mainly describes an Irish against Viking conflict.

However, because the negative value was moderate (-0.32 on a scale from -088 to 1) they suggest the text does not describe a fully "clear-cut" Irish versus Viking conflict. Instead, the network portrays a complex picture of relationships and social networks of the time.

Lead author Professor Ralph Kenna, a theoretical physicist at Coventry University, said:
"Every school child in Ireland is taught about the battle of Clontarf; it's an iconic event in our country's history.

"We've used network science to give a greater understanding of medieval accounts and to give new insight into the relationships and hostilities from this period, a topic that has been argued about for hundreds of years.

"The medieval composer of the text certainly did not think in terms of social networks but, in recording a cast of hundreds with well over a thousand connections between them, he imprinted them into the narrative.

"This is why the networks approach delivers unique new insights; it extracts an unintended message. The paper goes beyond previous works in that it generates a new quantitative element to the complexity and conflicts of a long-standing debate about the Viking age in Ireland."

PhD student Joseph Yose, who analysed the data, said:

"There are no detailed independent historical records of the time and the data come from a skilfully written medieval text replete with bias, exaggerating virtues and vices of many of its characters.

"Our statistical analysis delivers aggregate characteristics, largely insensitive to such individual and rhetorical elements. While it cannot decisively resolve the debate, we hope it delivers useful statistical information on the Viking Age in Ireland."

Archaeologists refute a recent publication regarding the dispersal of humans in Europe

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History of humanity does not require rewriting: The case of Untermassfeld

Date:

January 15, 2018

Source:

Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum

Summary:

In a newly published study, researchers refute a recent publication regarding the dispersal of humans in Europe.

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FULL STORY

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Untermassfeld research excavation: Top (a) -- Exposed skeleton parts of various large mammal species, with a completely preserved metacarpal bone (rectangle) of an early fallow deer (Dama nestii vallonnetensis) on the day prior to the theft. Photo: T. Korn, Senckenberg Weimar. Bottom (b) -- Vandalism caused by illegal excavation: The lower part of the rare deer bone was broken off and stolen (rectangle). Photos: J.-A. Keiler, R.-D. Kahlke, Senckenberg Weimar

Credit: Images courtesy of Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum

In a newly published study in the Journal of Paleolithic Archaeology, Senckenberg scientist Professor Dr. Ralf-Dietrich Kahlke, in conjunction with an international team of renowned Stone Age experts, refutes a recent publication regarding the dispersal of humans in Europe. This publication postulates that the first humans occurred in Northern and Central Europe as early as about one million years ago -- more than 200,000 years earlier than previously documented. Moreover, the team of scientists around the Ice Age researcher from Weimar was able to show that the specimens of the archeological study were presumably stolen from the research excavation in Untermassfeld.

Saber- and dirk-toothed cats, giant hyenas, hippopotamuses and elephants -- the Untermassfeld fossil site in the Thuringian Werra Valley offers a unique representation of the time period around one million years ago. "Each recovered fossil helps us to understand the ecosystem at that time and offers a detailed view into the life history on earth," explains Professor Dr. Ralf-Dietrich Kahlke of the Senckenberg Research Station for Quaternary Paleontology in Weimar, and he continues, "The diversity of the more than 17,000 specimens retrieved to date ranges from a tiny frog skeleton to the largest known cheetahs in geological history."

A recently published study in the Journal of Human Evolution now announced a new "sensational discovery" from the Thuringian fossil site. The study's authors describe several bones that were "processed with tools by humans." This is taken as proof for the presence of early humans in Central Europe around one million years ago, according to the study's senior author and hobby collector from Hesse.

"We have been digging in Untermassfeld since the 1970s, with a cumulative total of 90 months of recovery activity. More than 30 researchers from 20 institutes in Germany and abroad are involved in the analysis of our discoveries and results. None of us has ever before encountered traces of fossil hominids," cautions Kahlke. For the Ice Age researcher from Weimar, this was sufficient reason to get to the bottom of this asserted claim, together with a German-Dutch team of archeologists, including Professor Dr. Wil Roebroeks (University of Leiden), Professor Dr. Sabine Gaudzinski-Windheuser (University of Mainz) and Professor Dr. Michael Baales (University of Bochum).

"The archeological studies clearly show that the described bones and rocks neither constitute human tools, nor do the objects reveal signs of processing," explains Kahlke. Upon closer inspection, the marks on the fossil animal bones that were described as signs of cutting and hammering caused by humans turned out to be "the results of root etching, feeding traces by predators and rodents, as well as improper retrieval," according to Gaudzinski-Windheuser.

In addition, the team of scientists was able to prove that the 'archeological specimens' were obtained by the senior author through questionable means. They also refuted the author's claim that the objects came from an "old GDR collection."

"We diligently documented the excavation in Untermassfeld with daily photographs; therefore, we can state with certainty that the 'analyzed' fossils were only broken out of the excavation surface in the period between 2009 and 2012 and therefore cannot originate from an old collection," adds John-Albrecht Keiler, the Senckenberg excavation leader in Untermassfeld.

The team of scientists from Weimar links the described objects to a series of thefts between 2002 and 2012 at the fossil site -- this assumption is primarily based on a fossil fallow deer bone, which found its way into the Senckenberg Research Station's collection by way of an anonymous mailing via the Natural History Museum "Schloss Bertholdsburg Schleusingen."

Kahlke comments as follows: "Among others, this bone fragment is presented as part of the archeological study refuted by us -- and it was demonstrably stolen from our excavation in 2009."

All in all, about 400 specimens with a potential six-figure total value were taken. With the support of the Free State of Thuringia, these specimens shall now be made available to science again.

"Following the series of thefts, we have significantly expanded our safety concept, in cooperation with the police agencies. We hope that illegal excavations and the resulting faulty scientific 'findings' will now be a thing of the past," offers Kahlke in conclusion.

First evidence of sub-Saharan Africa glassmaking

IMAGE: This is Sub-Saharan Africa glass. view more 

Credit: Abidemi Babatunde Babalola

Scholars from Rice University, University College London and the Field Museum have found the first direct evidence that glass was produced in sub-Saharan Africa centuries before the arrival of Europeans, a finding that the researchers said represents a "new chapter in the history of glass technology."

The discovery is discussed in "Chemical Analysis of Glass Beads from Igbo Olokun, Ile-Ife (SW Nigeria): New Light on Raw Materials, Production and Interregional Interactions," which will appear in an upcoming volume of the Journal of Archaeological Science.

Lead author Abidemi Babatunde Babalola, a recent graduate of Rice with a Ph.D. in anthropology and a visiting fellow at Harvard University, came across evidence of early glassmaking during archaeological excavations at Igbo Olokun, located on the northern periphery of Ile-Ife in southwestern Nigeria. He recovered more than 12,000 glass beads and several kilograms of glass-working debris.

"This area has been recognized as a glass-working workshop for more than a century," Babalola said. "The glass-encrusted containers and beads that have been uncovered there were viewed for many years as evidence that imported glass was remelted and reworked."

However, 10 years ago this idea was challenged when analyses of glass beads attributed to Ile-Ife showed that some had a chemical composition very different from that of known glass production areas. Researchers raised the possibility of local production in Ife, although direct evidence for glassmaking and its chronology was lacking.

"The Igbo Olokun excavations have provided that evidence," Babalola said.

The researchers' analysis of 52 glass beads from the excavated assemblage revealed that none matched the chemical composition of any other known glass-production area in the Old World, including Egypt, the eastern Mediterranean, the Middle East and Asia. Rather, the beads have a high-lime, high-alumina (HLHA) composition that reflects local geology and raw materials, the researchers said.

The excavations provided evidence that glass production at Igbo Olokun dates to the 11th through 15th centuries A.D., well before the arrival of Europeans along the coast of West Africa.

Babalola said the presence of the HLHA glass at other important early West African sites suggests that it was widely traded. He hopes the research will cast more light on the innovation and development of glass in early sub-Saharan Africa and how the regional dynamics in glass production connect with the global phenomenon of glass invention and exchange.

He also hopes his work will help researchers understand its impact on the social, political and economic fabrics of the African societies.

The complexity of the Neanderthals’ origin

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Top view of the Montmaurin-La Niche mandible/José María Bermúdez de Castro.

Credit: Image courtesy of CENIEH

A team of scientists from the Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), led by José María Bermúdez de Castro, together with the French researcher Amélie Vialet, from the Natural History Museum in Paris, has just published a paper in the journal PLOS ONE on the Middle Pleistocene Montmaurin-La Niche mandible, which reveals the complexity of the origin of the Neanderthals.

This mandible was found by Raoul Cammas on 18 June 1949 in the karstic cavities of Montmaurin within the La Niche cave (France), where stone tools and fossil remains of different species of canids, equids and ursids also appeared, helping to place it in time.

The presumed age of this mandible, between 200,000 and 240,000 years, had led a close morphological similarity to the mandible of European Neanderthals to be presumed, particularly in the teeth, but the mathematical techniques applied to the study of a wide variety of mandibles, including those of a group of recent African ones, show that it is more in line with the most archaic specimens from Europe, including those from Dmanisi.

"We find here an archaic mandible, and dental pieces which taxonomically are indisputably Neanderthal, which helps to support the hypothesis that the Neanderthal lineage did not evolve linearly but in mosaic," explains Bermúdez de Castro.

Comparative studies

Considered for two decades to be the oldest human fossil found in France, the mandible has formed part of different comparative studies, and the description published by G. Billy and Henri V. Vallois in 1977 stands out. That work was undertaken more than 40 years ago, in the context of what was then known and of the theories then current on the colonization of the European continent.

However, human evolution in Europe was undoubtedly more complex than was thought only a couple of decades ago, as is explained in this paper entitled A reassessment of the Montmaurin-La Niche mandible (Haute Garonne, France) in the context of European Pleistocene human evolution, in which Mario Modesto, María Martinón-Torres and Marina Martínez de Pinillos also participated.

The possibility that there could have coexisted at least two hominin lineages, and that interbreeding, prolonged periods of isolation, genetic drift and other processes were habitual in the Middle Pleistocene in Europe is gaining momentum, while at the same time linear hypotheses such as "accretion" are losing ground.

"The appearance of the classic Neanderthals in the Late Pleistocene is a question by no means finally settled. There remain many open questions, and the Montmaurin-La Niche mandible now joins the list of X-files," concludes Bermúdez de Castro.

DNA ends 4,000-year-old Egyptian mummy mystery

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The Two Brothers are the Museum's oldest mummies and amongst the best-known human remains in its Egyptology collection. They are the mummies of two elite men -- Khnum-nakht and Nakht-ankh -- dating to around 1800 BC.

 

Credit: Manchester Museum, The University of Manchester

 

Using 'next generation' DNA sequencing scientists have found that the famous 'Two Brothers' mummies of the Manchester Museum have different fathers so are, in fact, half-brothers.

The Two Brothers are the Museum's oldest mummies and amongst the best-known human remains in its Egyptology collection. They are the mummies of two elite men -- Khnum-nakht and Nakht-ankh -- dating to around 1800 BC.

However, ever since their discovery in 1907 there has been some debate amongst Egyptologists whether the two were actually related at all. So, in 2015, 'ancient DNA' was extracted from their teeth to solve the mystery.

But how did the mystery start? The pair's joint burial site, later dubbed The Tomb of The Two Brothers, was discovered at Deir Rifeh, a village 250 miles south of Cairo.

They were found by Egyptian workmen directed by early 20th century Egyptologists, Flinders Petrie and Ernest Mackay. Hieroglyphic inscriptions on the coffins indicated that both men were the sons of an unnamed local governor and had mothers with the same name, Khnum-aa. It was then the men became known as the Two Brothers.

When the complete contents of the tomb were shipped to Manchester in 1908 and the mummies of both men were unwrapped by the UK's first professional female Egyptologist, Dr Margaret Murray. Her team concluded that the skeletal morphologies were quite different, suggesting an absence of family relationship. Based on contemporary inscriptional evidence, it was proposed that one of the Brothers was adopted.

Therefore, in 2015, the DNA was extracted from the teeth and, following hybridization capture of the mitochondrial and Y chromosome fractions, sequenced by a next generation method. Analysis showed that both Nakht-Ankh and Khnum-Nakht belonged to mitochondrial haplotype M1a1, suggesting a maternal relationship. The Y chromosome sequences were less complete but showed variations between the two mummies, indicating that Nakht-Ankh and Khnum-Nakht had different fathers, and were thus very likely to have been half-brothers.

Dr Konstantina Drosou, of the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Manchester who conducted the DNA sequencing, said: "It was a long and exhausting journey to the results but we are finally here. I am very grateful we were able to add a small but very important piece to the big history puzzle and I am sure the brothers would be very proud of us. These moments are what make us believe in ancient DNA. "

The study, which is being published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, is the first to successfully use the typing of both mitochondrial and Y chromosomal DNA in Egyptian mummies.
Dr Campbell Price, Curator of Egypt and Sudan at Manchester Museum, said: "The University of Manchester, and Manchester Museum in particular, has a long history of research on ancient Egyptian human remains. Our reconstructions will always be speculative to some extent but to be able to link these two men in this way is an exciting first."

The earliest domestic turkeys in ancient Mexico

For the first time, research has uncovered the origins of the earliest domestic turkeys in ancient Mexico.

The study also suggests turkeys weren't only prized for their meat - with demand for the birds soaring with the Mayans and Aztecs because of their cultural significance in rituals and sacrifices.

In an international collaboration, researchers from the University of York, the Institute of Anthropology and History in Mexico, Washington State University and Simon Fraser University, studied the remains of 55 turkeys which lived between 300BC and 1500 AD and had been discovered in Mesoamerica- an area stretching from central Mexico to Northern Costa Rica within which pre-Columbian societies such as the Mayans and Aztecs flourished.

Analysing the ancient DNA of the birds, the researchers were able to confirm that modern European turkeys are descended from Mexican ancestors.

The team also measured the carbon isotope ratios in the turkey bones to reconstruct their diets. They found that the turkeys were gobbling crops cultivated by humans such as corn in increasing amounts, particularly in the centuries leading up to Spanish exploration, implying more intensive farming of the birds.

Interestingly, the gradual intensification of turkey farming does not directly correlate to an increase in human population size, a link you would expect to see if turkeys were reared simply as a source of nutrition.

Lead author of the paper and Marie Sk?odowska-Curie Fellow in the Department of Archaeology at the University of York, Dr Aurélie Manin, said:

"Turkey bones are rarely found in domestic refuse in Mesoamerica and most of the turkeys we studied had not been eaten - some were found buried in temples and human graves, perhaps as companions for the afterlife. This fits with what we know about the iconography of the period, where we see turkeys depicted as gods and appearing as symbols in the calendar.

"The archaeological evidence suggests that meat from deer and rabbit was a more popular meal choice for people in pre-Columbian societies; turkeys are likely to have also been kept for their increasingly important symbolic and cultural role".

The fact that some of the turkey bones were uncovered outside of the natural range of the species also suggests that there was a thriving turkey trade in live birds along Mesoamerica's expanding trade routes.

Senior author of the paper from the Department of Archaeology at the University of York, Dr Camilla Speller, said: "Even though humans in this part of the word had been practicing agriculture for around 10,000 years, the turkey was the first animal, other than the dog, people in Mesoamerica started to take under their control.

"Turkeys would have made a good choice for domestication as there were not many other animals of suitable temperament available and turkeys would have been drawn to human settlements searching for scraps"

Some of the remains the researchers analysed were from a cousin of the common turkey - the brightly plumed Ocellated turkey. In a strange twist the researchers found that the diets of these more ornate birds remained largely composed of wild plants and insects, suggesting that they were left to roam free and never domesticated.

"Why two biologically very similar species living in the same area were treated so differently remains a mystery," added Dr Speller.

Possible cause of early colonial-era Mexican epidemic identified

Salmonella enterica, the bacterium responsible for enteric fever, may be the long-debated cause of the 1545-1550 AD 'cocoliztli' epidemic in Oaxaca, Mexico, that heavily affected the native population

Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History

An international team, led by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History (MPI-SHH), Harvard University and the Mexican National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), has used ancient DNA and a new data processing program to identify the possible cause of a colonial-era epidemic in Mexico.

Many large-scale epidemics spread through the New World during the 16th century but their biological causes are difficult to determine based on symptoms described in contemporaneous historical accounts. In this study, published in Nature Ecology and Evolution, scientists made use of new methods in ancient DNA research to identify Salmonella enterica Paratyphi C, a pathogen that causes enteric fever, in the skeletons of victims of the 1545-1550 cocoliztli epidemic in Mexico.

 After European contact, dozens of epidemics swept through the Americas, devastating New World populations. Although many first-hand accounts of these epidemics were recorded, in most cases it has been difficult, if not impossible, for researchers to definitively identify their causes based on historical descriptions of their symptoms alone. In some cases, for example, the symptoms caused by infection of different bacteria or viruses might be very similar, or the symptoms presented by certain diseases may have changed over the past 500 years. Consequently, researchers have hoped that advancements in ancient DNA analysis and other such approaches might provide a breakthrough in identifying the unknown causes of past epidemics.

The first direct evidence for one of the potential causes of the 1545-1550 cocoliztli epidemic
Of all the colonial New World epidemics, the unidentified 1545-1550 "cocoliztli" epidemic was among the most devastating, affecting large parts of Mexico and Guatemala, including the Mixtec town of Teposcolula-Yucundaa, located in Oaxaca, Mexico. Archaeological excavations at the site have unearthed the only known cemetery linked to this particular outbreak to date.

"Given the historical and archaeological context of Teposcolula-Yucundaa, it provided us with a unique opportunity to address the question regarding the unknown microbial causes responsible for this epidemic," explains Åshild J. Vågene of the MPI-SHH, co-first author of the study. After the epidemic, the city of Teposcolula-Yucundaa was relocated from the top of a mountain to the neighboring valley, leaving the epidemic cemetery essentially untouched prior to recent archaeological excavations. These circumstances made Teposcolula-Yucundaa an ideal site to test a new method to search for direct evidence of the cause of the disease.

The scientists analyzed ancient DNA extracted from 29 skeletons excavated at the site, and used a new computational program to characterize the ancient bacterial DNA. This technique allowed the scientists to search for all bacterial DNA present in their samples, without having to specify a particular target beforehand. This screening method revealed promising evidence of S. enterica DNA traces in 10 of their samples.

Subsequent to this initial finding, a DNA enrichment method specifically designed for this study was applied. With this, the scientists were able to reconstruct full S. enterica genomes, and 10 of the individuals were found to contain a subspecies of S. enterica that causes enteric fever. This is the first time scientists have recovered molecular evidence of a microbial infection from this bacterium using ancient material from the New World.

Enteric fever, of which typhoid fever is the best known variety today, causes high fevers, dehydration, and gastro-intestinal complications. Today, the disease is considered a major health threat around the world, having caused an estimated 27 million illnesses in the year 2000 alone. However, little is known about its past severity or worldwide prevalence.

A new tool in discovering past diseases

"A key result of this study is that we were successful in recovering information about a microbial infection that was circulating in this population, and we did not need to specify a particular target in advance," explains Alexander Herbig, also of the MPI-SHH and co-first author of the study. In the past, scientists usually targeted a particular pathogen or a small set of pathogens, for which they had prior indication.

"This new approach allows us to search broadly at the genome level for whatever may be present," added Johannes Krause, director of the Department of Archaeogenetics at the MPI-SHH and last author of the study. Kirsten Bos, also of the MPI-SHH, adds, "This is a critical advancement in the methods available to us as researchers of ancient diseases - we can now look for the molecular traces of many infectious agents in the archaeological record, which is especially relevant to typical cases where the cause of an illness is not known a priori."

Archaeologist discovers the earliest tomb of a Scythian prince

Deep in a swamp in the Russian republic of Tuva, SNSF-funded archaeologist Gino Caspari has discovered an undisturbed Scythian burial mound. All the evidence suggests that this is not only the largest Scythian princely tomb in South Siberia, but also the earliest -- and that it may be harbouring some outstandingly well-preserved treasures.

Gino Caspari made the most significant find in his career to date not with a shovel, but at a computer. A recipient of Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) funding, archaeologist Caspari discovered a circular structure on high-resolution satellite images of the Uyuk River valley (Siberia) on his computer screen. An initial trial dig carried out this summer by the Bern University scientist together with the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Hermitage Museum confirmed his suspicion: the structure is a kurgan, a Scythian princely tomb.

Looking back at the beginnings

Working with a Swiss-Russian team, Caspari was able to prove that the burial mound -- referred to as Tunnug 1 (or Arzhan 0) -- was similar in construction to the kurgan Arzhan 1 located only ten kilometres away to the northeast. Arzhan 1 had long been regarded as the earliest Scythian princely tomb in the region, which is also known as the "Siberian Valley of Kings" owing to the numerous kurgans found there. The earliest princely tombs consist of a stone packing with a circular arrangement of chambers. The walls of the chambers are made of larch logs.

Scythian burial objects typically include weapons, horse's harnesses and objects decorated in the so-called animal style.

Wooden beams found by Caspari during the test excavation date back to the 9th century BC, predating Arzhan 1, which was built at the turn of the 9th to the 8th century BC and excavated in the 1970s. "We have a great opportunity here," says a delighted Caspari, commenting on the results of the trial dig published in the current issue of Archaeological Research in Asia.

"Archaeological methods have become considerably more sophisticated since the 1970s. Today we have completely different ways of examining material to find out more about the transition from the Late Bronze Age to the Iron Age," remarks the SNSF-funded researcher. He also stresses that the way we look at prehistoric times is changing radically thanks to genetics, isotope analysis and geophysical methods as well as developments in geographic information systems and remote sensing.

Protective armour of ice

The Arzhan 0 burial mound is in an inaccessible location amid swampy terrain, which also makes it harder for grave robbers to reach.

"The kurgan is five arduous hours by off-road vehicle from the nearest settlement," Caspari points out.

As it may never have been disturbed, it could contain similar treasures to Arzhan 2. Between 2001 and 2004, a German team of archaeologists discovered an undisturbed burial chamber in Arzhan 2 containing the richest collection of burial artefacts ever found in the Eurasian steppe. Over a thousand gold objects had been placed with the two corpses in the tomb's main chamber, in addition to magnificently adorned weapons, pots and horses with exquisite harnesses. Made of solid gold, the necklace of the Scythian prince from Arzhan 2 weighs 2 kilos alone. But the date of the burial is put at the 7th century BC, i.e. well into the Iron Age.

The climatic characteristics of the Siberian soil add to Caspari's hopes. In the Uyuk Valley, the permafrost layer largely begins just a few metres below the surface. Everything above that thaws in summer, and organic material rots. However, beneath the thick stone packing of the kurgans, the rays of sunlight are unable to thaw out the soil.

"Very rarely ice lenses form directly beneath the kurgans," explains Caspari.

The ice prevents the decay of organic matter and preserves sensitive material. Caspari is expecting further finds to be unearthed in the course of the project: "If we're lucky, we might even find some well-preserved wood carvings or carpets under the stones, or perhaps an ice mummy."

Dual migration created genetic 'melting pot' of the first Scandinavians

IMAGE: These are skeletal fragments from Hummervikholmen, one of sites featured in this study. view more 

Credit: Beate Kjørslevik

New genomic data suggest that the first human settlers on the Scandinavian peninsula followed two distinct migration routes. The study published January 9 in the open access journal PLOS Biology led by researchers from Uppsala University with an international team of collaborators, also indicates that the resulting mixed population genetically adapted to the extreme environmental conditions.

There is consistent evidence of a human presence in the Scandinavian peninsula from around 11,700 years ago, and similarities between stone tool artefacts found in Scandinavia and those seen in both Western Europe and Eastern Europe suggest that several groups may have migrated into the area when the ice retreated. The migration routes and genetic makeup of the first Scandinavians have, however, previously been elusive.


By sequencing the genomes of 7 hunter-gatherers excavated across Scandinavia and dated to be 9,500-6,000 years old, the researchers found that migrations into the Scandinavian peninsula most likely followed two routes; one from central Europe and one from the Northeast along the Norwegian Atlantic Coast. The two groups met and mixed in Scandinavia, creating a genetically diverse population with many genetic variants that have not been passed down to modern-day Europeans.

The research team also investigated whether the individuals showed signs of adaptation to the cold and low daylight conditions found in high-latitude environments. They discovered that several genetic variants in the hunter-gatherers were linked to a gene associated with physical performance, which they hypothesise could be part of the physiological adaptation to cold. The hunter-gatherers also had a high frequency of genetic variants linked to reduced skin pigmentation -- a known adaptation to environments with low UV radiation, such as those at high latitude.

"We used cutting-edge genomic approaches to investigate hypotheses about the early colonization of northern Europe after the ice-sheet of the last glaciation retracted. It is really great to see how evidence from different disciplines can be combined to understand these complex past demographic processes," said population geneticist Torsten Günther, one of the lead authors.

He adds: "Our findings are important for human genetics, archaeology and anthropology, and it will be interesting to see what similar approaches can tell us about the post glacial population dynamics in other parts of Europe and the rest of the world."

Prehistoric Site about Half a Million Years Old Uncovered in Jaljulia in the Sharon Region

An astonishing discovery in Jaljulia: a rare and important prehistoric site, roughly half of a million years old, extending over about 1 hectare, was uncovered during the last few months in a joint archaeological excavation conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority in cooperation with the Archaeological Department in Tel Aviv University. The archaeological excavation was funded by theIsrael Land Authority, towards the expansion of Jaljulia.

The excavation revealed a rich lithic industry, including hundreds of flint hand axes, typical tools of the ancient Acheulian culture.

 

Among the finds uncovered in the excavation, conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority in a joint operation with Tel Aviv University, are hundreds of flint hand axes used by prehistoric humans.

According to Maayan Shemer, the excavation director on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, and Prof. Ran Barkai, head of the Archaeology Department at Tel Aviv University:

"The extraordinary quantity of flint tools uncovered in the excavation provides significant information about the lifeways of prehistoric humans during the Lower Paleolithic period. It seems that half a million years ago, the conditions here in Jaljulia were such, that this became a favored locality with extensive human activity.  We associate the industry found on site to the Homo Erectus - a direct ancestor of the Homo Sapiens Sapiens, the human species living today.

A geological reconstruction of the prehistoric environment, shows that the human activity took place in a dynamic environment, on the banks of an ancient stream (possibly Nahal Qaneh, which now flows approximately 300 yards south of the site). This environment is considered to have been rich with vegetation and herding animals, a 'green spot' in the landscape. In this place, three basic needs of the ancient hunter gatherers were met: clear water, a variety of food sources (plants and animals) and flint nodules, of which tools were made.

The fact that the site was occupied repeatedly indicates that prehistoric humans possessed a geographic memory of the place, and could have returned here as a part of a seasonal cycle."

Hand axes, found at the site in relatively large quantities, are very impressive tools, their shape somewhat reminding a teardrop. The production of these tools requires careful and meticulous work, and a deep familiarity of the raw material in use. In Jaljulia hand axes were made of a variety of flint types, and we also observe a differentiation in the production quality. Almost as if some of the hand axes were made by a master craftsmen and others- by someone less qualified.



Hand axes were used as dominant tools by prehistoric humans for more than a million years. Yet, its particular use is still debated. Some scholars suggest that these were the tools used to dismember large animals such as elephants. Others say that hand axes were the "Swiss Army knife" of the Stone Age and had additional uses such as hunting, hide working and the working plant and vegetal material. Large quantities of additional flint artifacts attest to technological innovation, development and creativity.

    
 
Maayan Shemer, the excavation director on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, said:

"Coming to work in Jaljulia, nobody expected to find evidence of such an ancient site, let alone one so extensive and with such impressive finds. There are only two sites whose estimated age is close to Jaljulia in Central Israel: one in Kibbutz Eyal, approximately 3 miles to the north, and the other, dated to a slightly later cultural phase, at Qesem Cave located approximately 3 miles to the south.

The findings are amazing, both in their preservation state and in their implications about our understanding of this ancient material culture. We see here a wide technological variety, and there is no doubt that researching these finds in-depth will contribute greatly to the understanding of the lifestyle and human behavior during the period in which Homo Erectus inhabited our area. 

 
Prof. Ran Barkai, head of the Archaeology Department of Tel Aviv University:

"It is hard to believe that between Jaljulia and highway 6, five meters below the surface, an ancient landscape some half of a million years old has been so amazingly preserved. This extraordinary site will enable us to trace the behavior of our direct prehistoric ancestors, and reconstruct their lifestyle and behavior on the very long journey of human existence. The past of all of us, of all human beings, is buried in the earth, and we have a one-time opportunity to travel back half a million years and better get to know the ancient humans who lived here before us, between Jaljulia and road 6."

Photos & Video Credits: Yitzhak Marmelstein, Samuel Magal,

Courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority

Ancient Phoenician DNA from Sardinia, Lebanon reflects settlement, integration, mobility

Ancient DNA from the Phoenician remains found in Sardinia and Lebanon could provide insight into the extent of integration with settled communities and human movement during this time period, according to a study published January 10, 2018 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by E. Matisoo-Smith from the University of Otago, New Zealand and Pierre Zalloua from the Lebanese American University, Beirut, and colleagues. The researchers looked at mitochondrial genomes, which are maternally inherited, in a search for markers of Phoenician ancestry.

The Phoenicians were an ancient civilization who emerged in 1800 BCE in the Northern Levant and by the 9th century BCE had spread their culture across the Mediterranean to parts of Asia, Europe and Africa through their trade networks and settlements. Despite their widespread influence, most of what we know about the Phoenicians comes from Greek and Egyptian documents on this civilization.

The authors of this study analyzed Phoenicians' ancient DNA to investigate how Phoenicians integrated with the Sardinian communities they settled. The researchers found 14 new ancient mitogenome sequences from pre-Phoenician (~1800 BCE) and Phoenician (~700-400 BCE) samples from Lebanon and Sardinia and then compared these with 87 new complete mitogenomes from modern Lebanese and 21 recently published pre-Phoenician ancient mitogenomes from Sardinia.

The researchers found evidence of continuity of some lineages of indigenous Sardinians after Phoenician settlement, which suggests that there was integration between Sardinians and Phoenicians in Monte Sirai. They also discovered evidence of new, unique mitochondrial lineages in Sardinia and Lebanon, which may indicate the movement of women from sites in the Near East or North Africa to Sardinia and the movement of European women to Lebanon. Combined, the authors suggest that there was a degree of female mobility and genetic diversity in Phoenician communities, indicating that migration and cultural assimilation were common occurrences.

Pierre Zalloua says, "this DNA evidence reflects the inclusive and multicultural nature of Phoenician society. They were never conquerors, they were explorers and traders".

Research reveals evidence of new population of ancient Native Americans

IMAGE: A scientific illustration of the Upward Sun River camp in what is now Interior Alaska. view more 

Credit: Illustration by Eric S. Carlson in collaboration with Ben A. Potter

Genetic analysis of ancient DNA from a 6-week-old infant found at an Interior Alaska archaeological site has revealed a previously unknown population of ancient people in North America.

The findings, published in the Jan. 3 edition of the journal Nature, represent a major shift in scientists' theories about how humans populated North America. The researchers have named the new group "Ancient Beringians."

"We didn't know this population existed," said Ben Potter, one of the lead authors of the study and a professor of anthropology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. "These data also provide the first direct evidence of the initial founding Native American population, which sheds new light on how these early populations were migrating and settling throughout North America."

Genetic analysis and demographic modeling, which help scientists draw connections among groups of people over time, indicate that a single founding ancestral Native American group split from East Asians about 35,000 year ago. Then, about 20,000 years ago, that group split into two groups: the Ancient Beringians and the ancestors of all other Native Americans. Lead authors J. Victor Moreno-Mayar, Eske Willerslev and the team at the Centre for GeoGenetics at the University of Copenhagen's Natural History Museum of Denmark completed the genetics work.

The DNA from the infant, named "Xach'itee'aanenh T'eede Gaay" (sunrise girl-child) by the local indigenous community, has provided an unprecedented window into the history of her people, Potter said. She and a younger female infant found at the Upward Sun River site in 2013 lived about 11,500 years ago and were closely related, likely first cousins. The younger infant has been named "Ye?kaanenh T'eede Gaay" (dawn twilight girl-child).

"It would be difficult to overstate the importance of this newly revealed people to our understanding of how ancient populations came to inhabit the Americas," Potter said. "This new information will allow us a more accurate picture of Native American prehistory. It is markedly more complex than we thought."

The findings also suggest two new scenarios for populating the New World. One is that there were two distinct groups of people who crossed over the Beringian land bridge prior to 15,700 years ago. A second is that one group of people crossed over the land bridge and then split in Beringia into two groups: Ancient Beringians and other Native Americans, with the latter moving south of the ice sheets 15,700 years ago.

Potter's National Science Foundation-funded work at the Upward Sun River site has spanned a decade. He said that when the science team began the analysis of the genetic material, they expected it to match the genetic profile of other northern Native American people. Instead, it matched no other known ancient population.

What this suggests is that the Ancient Beringian people remained in the Far North for thousands of years, while the ancestors of other Native American peoples spread south throughout the rest of North America. The DNA results, along with other archaeological data, suggest that Athabascan ancestors moved north again, possibly around 6,000 years ago, eventually absorbing or replacing the Ancient Beringian population and establishing deep roots in their ancestral lands.

"There is very limited genetic information about modern Alaska Athabascan people," Potter said. "These findings create opportunities for Alaska Native people to gain new knowledge about their own connections to both the northern Native American and Ancient Beringian people."

[Belonging] To the Governor of the City": A Unique find Unearthed in Jerusalem

 

The important find was discovered over the course of the IAA's excavations at the site, together with the Western Wall Heritage Foundation. According to the excavator, Dr. Shlomit Weksler-Bdolah, "the Bible mentions two governors of Jerusalem, and this finding reaffirms that such a position was actually held by someone in the city some 2,700 years ago."

This extraordinary find is a lump of clay, stamped and pre-fired. It measures 13 X 15 mm and is 2-3 mm thick. The upper part of the sealing depicts two figures facing each other, and the lower part holds an inscription in ancient Hebrew script.




 
Dr. Shlomit Weksler-Bdolah, excavator of the site located in the northwestern part of the western Wall Plaza, on behalf of the IAA,believes that "the sealing had been attached to an important transport and served as some sort of logo, or as a tiny souvenir, which was sent on behalf of the governor of the city." Dr. Weksler-Bdolah further suggests that "it is likely that one of the buildings in our excavation was the destination of this transport sent by the city governor.

The finding of the sealing with this high-rank title, in addition to the large assemblage of actual seals found in the building in the past, supports the assumption that this area, located on the western slopes of the western hill of ancient Jerusalem, some 330 ft. west of the Temple Mount, was inhabited by highly ranked officials during the First Temple period." According to Dr. Weksler-Bdolah "this is the first time that such a sealing is found in an authorized excavation. It supports the biblical rendering of the existence of a governor of the city in Jerusalem 2,700 years ago."


 
Prof. Tallay Ornan of the Hebrew University, and Prof. Benjamin Sass of Tel Aviv University, studied the sealing and describe it thus: "above a double line are two standing men, facing each other in a mirror-like manner. Their heads are depicted as large dots, lacking any details. The hands facing outward are dropped down, and the hands facing inward are raised Each of the figures is wearing a striped, knee-length garment. In the register beneath the double line is an inscription in ancient Hebrew: לשרער, with no spacing between the words and no definite article. It denotes לשר העיר, i.e., "belonging to the governor of the city."

 Prof. Ornan and Prof. Sass add, that "the title 'governor of the city' is known from the Bible and from extra-biblical documents, referring to an official appointed by the king. Governors of Jerusalem are mentioned twice in the Bible: in Kings B, Joshua is the governor of the city in the days of Hezekiah, and in Chronicles B, Maaseiahis the governor of the city in the days of Josiah.



 
Nir Barkat, Mayor of Jerusalem, when the find was presented to him said that "it is very overwhelming to receive greetings from First Temple-period Jerusalem. This shows that already 2,700 years ago, Jerusalem, the capital of Israel, was a strong and central city. Jerusalem is one of the most ancient capitals of the world, continually populated by the Jewish people for more than 3,000 years. Today we have the privilege to encounter another one of the long chain of persons and leaders that built and developed the city. We are grateful to be living in a city with such a magnificent past, and are obligated to ensure its strength for generations to come, as we daily do."



 
According to Dr. Yuval Baruch, archaeologist of the Jerusalem District in the IAA:"the outstanding significance of the finds brought upon the decision to conserve the First Temple-period building exposed in the Western Wall plaza excavations and open it to visitors".

The William Davidson Foundation funded the construction of the Davidson Center and archaeological park, which is currently being completely renovated. The Foundation was founded in 2005 by William Davidson, noted businessman and philanthropist, and is a private family foundation that works to honor its founders' memory by preserving and enhancing the cultural, civic and economic vitality, in Southeast Michigan, Israel and the Jewish Community.

The Davidson center and archaeological park offer a window into Jerusalem on the eve of its destruction by the Romans in 70 C.E. The site contains direct artifacts from the city's destruction as well as a significant archaeological remains from the Byzantine and early Arab periods.

Photos & Video Credits: Shlomit Weksler-Bdolah, Clara Amit, 

Yoli Schwartz, Yaniv Berman, 

Courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority